나는 신창다.

2016/07/04

Eric, “OHYA director Han Dong Hyun is the best in angles and cinematography” (Pt 3/3)

What’s the grand picture that Eric is painting? He says he doesn’t want to return to the past, and lives in the present being thankful for what he has. He says he doesn’t want to kill this current moment, which he has arrived at after going through all sorts of hardship even with some enjoyable moments peppered in between. Because he doesn’t care for going back to the past to fix past regrets when there’s no guarantee that the present moment that he’s thankful for will be the same.

Analyzing the drama, speaking with conviction about his thoughts on the character of Park Do Kyung, even as an actor Eric returns to his role as leader and CEO when the conversation moves to Shinhwa. When asked about Shinhwa’s upcoming comeback in the later half of the year, more firm and definite than anyone else, he replies that yes, Shinhwa will have a comeback in the second half of the year. Where it’s dating, marriage, Shinhwa, or himself at this moment, he has no hesitation about his thoughts. We look forward to seeing yet another side of him in the future.

– Was it hard to analyse a character like Do Kyung?

More than whether it’s hard to analyse the character, it was hard to do it as I was acting. He’s someone who doesn’t express his emotions a lot, but that could end up two-dimensional and boring and in spite of that I couldn’t make him an unattractive character. He keeps experiencing deja vu and the feeling shouldn’t be the same every time. It was tough to act out things like this. But in the beginning after a few rounds of filming and seeing the edits, I just worked on my emotions and what was presented through the edited cuts and the music was more refined and better. With the angles and the cinematography, I think director Han Dong Hyun is the best. Two weeks before filming, he studied the cast’s previous works to study their best angles. Even if he’s a little dissatisfied with the lighting and the angle, the scene won’t be shot. In the later half as we started to film overnight, it was really not easy. We stayed up to film through the night just so that the quality right til the end doesn’t get compromised. Usually dramas rely on the power of the writer, but the directing and the cinematography for this drama was really good. It covered up many inadequacies and even if I don’t explain myself explicitly, the blank spaces are all covered up very well.

– What are you thankful to director Han Dong Hyun for?

It’s hard to find a cast where everyone is on the same wavelength and there are times where we’re there (on set) just to spend time and be there. It was an environment where everyone from the director to the maknae did their very best.

My facial features are big and my face is long so the angles have a lot of impact on me. If there were no efforts on looking for the right angle, we wouldn’t be able to achieve the full effect of the sweet and pretty scenes together. 2 weeks before filming started, he studied our past works to study us in detail so he knew all our shortcomings and worked on rectifying them. It’s not that we suddenly got better-looking in this drama, but we really just look better. I think the power of cinematography played a very big part.

– When do you think Do Kyung started to like Hae Young?

According to the script, during their seaside date Hae Young asked Do Kyung when he started to like her, and Do Kyung who is saddled with a trauma said that it’s when Hae Young told him about her embarrassment during her high school class president election.

But personally I think he already fell for her when they met each other on the streets in episode 1. Because during the scene where they were eating at Han River, if he hadn’t already fallen for her, he wouldn’t have told her that she looks pretty when she eats. Because Do Kyung isn’t a flirt. He fell for her without realizing it. So that’s why I acted accordingly. When they met on the streets, I thought that would be the moment when people would fall for someone.

– Don’t you think about dating or marriage?

If I could that’ll be great but it’s not something that’s within my control. In the past I just liked children, and I wanted to form a family and have children because it’s cool to be a dad. But now that I’m of some age, it’s difficult to say these things thoughtlessly. Seems like I really have to do it, but I don’t think I will talk about dating and marriage anymore before my marriage announcement.

– Is there anything in the past you would change if you could see your moment of death just like Do Kyung?

Among the members, we often ask one another if we want to go back to our high school days, on a time machine. Even though we joke about it, I totally have no wish to go back. Things didn’t always go smoothly and there were also tough times, but it’s those experiences that painted the picture that is now. I don’t care for going back to those days. Even if I had those experiences again, there’s no guarantee that things would be the way they are now, so I wouldn’t want to go back in time. I’m not exactly satisfied with the present, but I’m thankful for it.

– What’s the most important thing in Eric’s life?

People on my side, people whom I can say are on my side, like my family and the (Shinhwa) members.

– Any actresses that you would like to work with for your next project?

Seo Hyun Jin and Han Ji Min. I’ve already worked with (Jung) Yu Mi. Because I always enjoy working together with great people. I have three favorite actresses. Han Ji Min, Seo Hyun Jin, Jung Yu Mi.

– You were saying that you will have a comeback in the later half of the year.

Yes, Shinhwa will have a comeback in the second half of the year.

– There are many groups that have reunited. Any thoughts on this?

It’s touching. It’s not easy to make it happen. For us too, it hasn’t been easy to get this far. For these groups, they split and meet again, and re-enter the fray when they are so many outstanding youngsters, it’s not easy. They’ve rested for such a long time, I hope they do well and I’m cheering them on.

– You used to refer to yourself as Mun Jung Hyuk for acting projects, why did you use Eric this time round?

I hoped not to affect the drama with my singer image so I referred to myself as Mun Jung Hyuk. I didn’t like the feelimg that I was using my fame as an idol and I wanted to separate my identities as an actor and as a singer. When I was filming Phoenix, the director suggested that. But now I think there’s no particular need to split things so clearly. People already know me as Eric of Shinhwa. Who cares about Mun Jung Hyuk? Being stubborn over Mun Jung Hyuk is just a matter of pride. Acting is just my job, I don’t carry around an actor’s pride with me. I think either way is fine, whichever way works better.

One thought on “Eric, “OHYA director Han Dong Hyun is the best in angles and cinematography” (Pt 3/3)”

Thanks so much for this 3-part series by Star News Daily. It’s my favorite of the bunch (always love the Q&A style).🙂

Being ambitious is good. For Eric, he prefers a good works that comes with great environment and happiness. It’s not just this drama that he emphasizes on being happy is important to him. That resonates a lot with some unfortunate things happened to him in the past that weren’t of his doing….

I always love Eric’s interviews. He’s meticulous, humble and honest, very honest about everything and I appreciate that a lot.